Chapter 8 - Raptors and Separation!
Somewhere deep in the forest…
They trudged aimlessly through the forest, now and again having to hack through a very dense bit of foliage. Malcolm lead the group, behind him came Nic, closely followed by Blake.
Behind Blake came his bodyguard Marco and bringing up the rear, Standish.
At one point Nic brushed a rather large leave out of her way and let it ping back,
which resulted in Blake getting hit full in the face. Nic had tried to apologise but found it impossible through fits of laughter and Malcolm silently thanked her because it had stopped Blake from moaning and saying that they should've left the plane.
Standish had been very quiet through the trip, the reason for this was because he had the strange feeling they were being followed
`Lord I hope I am mistaken' he thought to himself.
Suddenly there was a rustle of leaves and Malcolm, Nic and Standish stopped dead. "Why did you stop?" Blake asked nervously.
"I thought I heard something" Nic and Malcolm said in unison.
"Something is following us" Standish said in a low voice
"Has been for some time but I thought I was mistaken".
"Raptors?" Malcolm asked.
"Probably" Standish answered. Blake gulped and looked around, expecting to see the dinosaur.
"They're pack hunters right?" Nic asked, waiting for Standish's nod before continuing "Then we're probly already surrounded"
"Don't you mean probably?" Malcolm said correcting her grammar and receiving a glare for it. She was just going to answer back when she felt Blake tap her on the shoulder.
"What!" she said irritably, She followed Blake's finger to see what her was pointing at. There only about 10 yards away was a dinosaur about 6ft in length and about 2ft
in height.
"Oh shit!" she gasped. Blake began to back away, ready to run
"I would not attempt departure in that direction" He heard Standish say.
"And why not?" he asked, but he got his answer in the shape of a second raptor emerging from the bushes, he then noticed that there were four raptors surrounding them.
The group were now back to back, Malcolm had his cutting knife pointing at the raptor before him, Marco and Standish both had rifles aimed at another two raptors and Nic had a handgun and cutting knife pointing at the fourth. Blake just stood frozen to the spot.
"We should shoot them and make a run for it" Marco said to Malcolm.
"We could but where should we run?" Malcolm replied.
"Deeper into the forest?" Nic asked.
"Not a chance, they would attack us from the security of the foliage" Standish said.
"What about to a clearing?" Marco suggested.
" Worse than the forest, they can run at up to speeds faster than a cheetah and would easily catch us" the southerner replied.
"Then where do you suggest?" Marco asked gruffly.
"Trees!" Malcolm and Standish said together.
As soon as the group decided on where to run, they put the plan into action. It was agreed that after 3 they would fire a shot at each raptor and then run to the nearest tree and climb it. Malcolm began counting but didn't get to finish for the raptors had become impatient and charged the group.
As one raptor made a leap, a shot run out and it fell to the ground.
"What are you waiting for?" Standish asked aiming his smouldering rifle again.
They began to move backwards towards a large tree, Nic shot another raptor, hitting it
in the stomach covering herself and Standish in the blood that went flying. The group then took out the remaining two and run at stop speed to the tree. Suddenly Nic stopped and Standish stopped with her.
"Where's Martin?" She asked.
Blake hadn't moved from the spot he had frozen to when the raptors first appeared and was aware the others had left. He yelled when something grabbed his shoulder and a hand was placed over his mouth.
"Come on Martin let's get out of here!" he heard a soft British voice say to him and he was pulled backward. He was brought back to awareness when he heard a shot fire from right near him and a southern accent saying that one survived.
"Go!" Standish said to Nic.
She was about to argue with him when she saw the raptor leap from the foliage and knock him to the ground. She knew then he was as good as dead and run further into the forest, dragging a reluctant Blake with her.
Marco and Malcolm had made it to the tree and climbed it only to realise that the others weren't with them.
"We should go back for them!" Marco said, starting to descend the tree when Malcolm pulled him back and pointed down towards the ground. There below them were two raptors, which were trying to jump up to where they were but the distance was too great, even for raptors. "We aren't going anywhere," Malcolm said.
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At the east campsite…
"What did Alan mean when he said you can monitor what they are doing and what they can expect?" Billy asked JD, who was sitting in front of a computer system.
The computer system was made up of many different monitors that JD was just switching on and had a keyboard and radio on the desk.
"Well before we set out several technicians came to the island and set up a whole network of cameras in the `cage', so that everything can be monitored from this computer system " JD replied, "This monitor, however shows a map. You see those red blips, they're heat signatures, probably the Pterodactyls…
"Pteranodons!" Billy corrected.
"Whatever, well anyway soon there will be some green blips, those are our group."
"Why are they green?"
"Because the computers recognises them as humans and turns them green…"
"So green is human and red is anything else?"
"Yep!" JD said grinning.
"Hello, looks like we got some green blobs JD" Billy said, pointing to the map.
"JD, Billy, you there?" they heard Grants voice come over the radio.
"Sure are Dr Grant!" JD replied.
At the `birdcage'…
"We're entering the `cage' now, let us know when we are approaching any Pteranodons ok?" Grant said through the radio.
"Sure thing, Dr Grant, actually your not that far from some now" said JD, his voice sounding slightly static like over the radio.
"Right, well keep us informed," Grant said and then clipping his radio back on his belt.
"Ok men!" Colonel Beckton said, "I want you to shoot at anything that appears to be a Pteranodon understand?" A chorus of `yes sirs' echoed around and then the group entered the `cage'.
Everyone had their weapons out and ready to use if needed, Grant and Beckton kept in touch with JD and followed his directions towards as Billy put it "the big red blobs are!"
Suddenly from somewhere above the group the heard a hideous cry and then the sound of wings flapping.
"Ok men, ready, aim…" the colonel said.
And then suddenly a flock of three Pteranodons appeared above them,
"Fire!!!" he shouted and his men let fly a series of rifle fire at the Pteranodons.
Two of the creatures were hit in the wings and fell downward, one broke its neck as it hit the ground but the second managed to land unscathed. Keats who was closest to it fired several panicky shots missing the creatures completely and allowing it to
snap out with its bill and grabbed Keats leg. As Keats hit the ground his gun rolled away.
The others who were firing at the Pteranodon still airborne heard a bloodcurdling scream fill the air. Helton, Beckton and Grant headed off towards the sound, leaving Ellie, Phillips and Randall to deal with the creature.
Helton arrived first and what he saw filled him with rage and disgust. He picked up Keats discarded weapon and fired both rifles at the dining Pteranodon.
When Grant and Beckton reached the area. They found Helton pulling Keats dog tags from his bloody neck and a dead Pteranodon.
There wasn't much left of Keats his face had been eaten and his skull was visible, also his chest and stomach had been ripped open and his organs were showing and what was really eerie was the fact that his heart was still slowly beating under his ribs.
The three of them returned to where they had left the others and were glad to see that the third Pteranodonhad been taken care of but they also saw Randall lying on his front and his head lying about 7 yards away from his body. Phillips handed the colonel Randall's dog tags whish were caked in blood and Beckton placed them in the cloth he had wrapped Keats in.
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"They what? " The man in charge of the group yelled.
"They have killed three Pteranodons sir" Josiah replied calmly.
"Get out my sight, all of you!" he yelled. All the men departed quickly leaving their sieving commander to contact the `boss' and report the destruction.
"It seems you under estimated Grant and his men Jenkins!" James said other the radio. "I think it's about time you done something about them!"
"Like what?" Jenkins asked.
"Get rid of them, kill them!" James said and ended the transmission.
Jenkins laughed and walked towards his men but decided not to tell them the `good news' till they caught up with Grant and his men.
Josiah removed the headphones and emerged from behind the tree. He had heard the conversation between Jenkins and James.
`It's about time you helped the right people now Sanchez' he said to himself. And then the spy started to formulate a plan to stop Grant or any of his men from being killed.
Somewhere deep in the forest…
They trudged aimlessly through the forest, now and again having to hack through a very dense bit of foliage. Malcolm lead the group, behind him came Nic, closely followed by Blake.
Behind Blake came his bodyguard Marco and bringing up the rear, Standish.
At one point Nic brushed a rather large leave out of her way and let it ping back,
which resulted in Blake getting hit full in the face. Nic had tried to apologise but found it impossible through fits of laughter and Malcolm silently thanked her because it had stopped Blake from moaning and saying that they should've left the plane.
Standish had been very quiet through the trip, the reason for this was because he had the strange feeling they were being followed
`Lord I hope I am mistaken' he thought to himself.
Suddenly there was a rustle of leaves and Malcolm, Nic and Standish stopped dead. "Why did you stop?" Blake asked nervously.
"I thought I heard something" Nic and Malcolm said in unison.
"Something is following us" Standish said in a low voice
"Has been for some time but I thought I was mistaken".
"Raptors?" Malcolm asked.
"Probably" Standish answered. Blake gulped and looked around, expecting to see the dinosaur.
"They're pack hunters right?" Nic asked, waiting for Standish's nod before continuing "Then we're probly already surrounded"
"Don't you mean probably?" Malcolm said correcting her grammar and receiving a glare for it. She was just going to answer back when she felt Blake tap her on the shoulder.
"What!" she said irritably, She followed Blake's finger to see what her was pointing at. There only about 10 yards away was a dinosaur about 6ft in length and about 2ft
in height.
"Oh shit!" she gasped. Blake began to back away, ready to run
"I would not attempt departure in that direction" He heard Standish say.
"And why not?" he asked, but he got his answer in the shape of a second raptor emerging from the bushes, he then noticed that there were four raptors surrounding them.
The group were now back to back, Malcolm had his cutting knife pointing at the raptor before him, Marco and Standish both had rifles aimed at another two raptors and Nic had a handgun and cutting knife pointing at the fourth. Blake just stood frozen to the spot.
"We should shoot them and make a run for it" Marco said to Malcolm.
"We could but where should we run?" Malcolm replied.
"Deeper into the forest?" Nic asked.
"Not a chance, they would attack us from the security of the foliage" Standish said.
"What about to a clearing?" Marco suggested.
" Worse than the forest, they can run at up to speeds faster than a cheetah and would easily catch us" the southerner replied.
"Then where do you suggest?" Marco asked gruffly.
"Trees!" Malcolm and Standish said together.
As soon as the group decided on where to run, they put the plan into action. It was agreed that after 3 they would fire a shot at each raptor and then run to the nearest tree and climb it. Malcolm began counting but didn't get to finish for the raptors had become impatient and charged the group.
As one raptor made a leap, a shot run out and it fell to the ground.
"What are you waiting for?" Standish asked aiming his smouldering rifle again.
They began to move backwards towards a large tree, Nic shot another raptor, hitting it
in the stomach covering herself and Standish in the blood that went flying. The group then took out the remaining two and run at stop speed to the tree. Suddenly Nic stopped and Standish stopped with her.
"Where's Martin?" She asked.
Blake hadn't moved from the spot he had frozen to when the raptors first appeared and was aware the others had left. He yelled when something grabbed his shoulder and a hand was placed over his mouth.
"Come on Martin let's get out of here!" he heard a soft British voice say to him and he was pulled backward. He was brought back to awareness when he heard a shot fire from right near him and a southern accent saying that one survived.
"Go!" Standish said to Nic.
She was about to argue with him when she saw the raptor leap from the foliage and knock him to the ground. She knew then he was as good as dead and run further into the forest, dragging a reluctant Blake with her.
Marco and Malcolm had made it to the tree and climbed it only to realise that the others weren't with them.
"We should go back for them!" Marco said, starting to descend the tree when Malcolm pulled him back and pointed down towards the ground. There below them were two raptors, which were trying to jump up to where they were but the distance was too great, even for raptors. "We aren't going anywhere," Malcolm said.
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At the east campsite…
"What did Alan mean when he said you can monitor what they are doing and what they can expect?" Billy asked JD, who was sitting in front of a computer system.
The computer system was made up of many different monitors that JD was just switching on and had a keyboard and radio on the desk.
"Well before we set out several technicians came to the island and set up a whole network of cameras in the `cage', so that everything can be monitored from this computer system " JD replied, "This monitor, however shows a map. You see those red blips, they're heat signatures, probably the Pterodactyls…
"Pteranodons!" Billy corrected.
"Whatever, well anyway soon there will be some green blips, those are our group."
"Why are they green?"
"Because the computers recognises them as humans and turns them green…"
"So green is human and red is anything else?"
"Yep!" JD said grinning.
"Hello, looks like we got some green blobs JD" Billy said, pointing to the map.
"JD, Billy, you there?" they heard Grants voice come over the radio.
"Sure are Dr Grant!" JD replied.
At the `birdcage'…
"We're entering the `cage' now, let us know when we are approaching any Pteranodons ok?" Grant said through the radio.
"Sure thing, Dr Grant, actually your not that far from some now" said JD, his voice sounding slightly static like over the radio.
"Right, well keep us informed," Grant said and then clipping his radio back on his belt.
"Ok men!" Colonel Beckton said, "I want you to shoot at anything that appears to be a Pteranodon understand?" A chorus of `yes sirs' echoed around and then the group entered the `cage'.
Everyone had their weapons out and ready to use if needed, Grant and Beckton kept in touch with JD and followed his directions towards as Billy put it "the big red blobs are!"
Suddenly from somewhere above the group the heard a hideous cry and then the sound of wings flapping.
"Ok men, ready, aim…" the colonel said.
And then suddenly a flock of three Pteranodons appeared above them,
"Fire!!!" he shouted and his men let fly a series of rifle fire at the Pteranodons.
Two of the creatures were hit in the wings and fell downward, one broke its neck as it hit the ground but the second managed to land unscathed. Keats who was closest to it fired several panicky shots missing the creatures completely and allowing it to
snap out with its bill and grabbed Keats leg. As Keats hit the ground his gun rolled away.
The others who were firing at the Pteranodon still airborne heard a bloodcurdling scream fill the air. Helton, Beckton and Grant headed off towards the sound, leaving Ellie, Phillips and Randall to deal with the creature.
Helton arrived first and what he saw filled him with rage and disgust. He picked up Keats discarded weapon and fired both rifles at the dining Pteranodon.
When Grant and Beckton reached the area. They found Helton pulling Keats dog tags from his bloody neck and a dead Pteranodon.
There wasn't much left of Keats his face had been eaten and his skull was visible, also his chest and stomach had been ripped open and his organs were showing and what was really eerie was the fact that his heart was still slowly beating under his ribs.
The three of them returned to where they had left the others and were glad to see that the third Pteranodonhad been taken care of but they also saw Randall lying on his front and his head lying about 7 yards away from his body. Phillips handed the colonel Randall's dog tags whish were caked in blood and Beckton placed them in the cloth he had wrapped Keats in.
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"They what? " The man in charge of the group yelled.
"They have killed three Pteranodons sir" Josiah replied calmly.
"Get out my sight, all of you!" he yelled. All the men departed quickly leaving their sieving commander to contact the `boss' and report the destruction.
"It seems you under estimated Grant and his men Jenkins!" James said other the radio. "I think it's about time you done something about them!"
"Like what?" Jenkins asked.
"Get rid of them, kill them!" James said and ended the transmission.
Jenkins laughed and walked towards his men but decided not to tell them the `good news' till they caught up with Grant and his men.
Josiah removed the headphones and emerged from behind the tree. He had heard the conversation between Jenkins and James.
`It's about time you helped the right people now Sanchez' he said to himself. And then the spy started to formulate a plan to stop Grant or any of his men from being killed.